Just Go Get Her
by evilregal1226
Summary: After the events of Book 4 (and after Asami and Korra's Spirit World vacation), Kya comes back to Republic City to visit and runs into Lin. There's some background Korrasami, but it's mostly Kyalin focused. It's gonna be slow burn, but I promise it will eventually get there.
1. Chapter 1

"Just go get her, please. I swear I'm not making this up."

"Miss, I don't know who exactly you think you are, but I'm not just going to go get the Chief of Police because some vagrant decided to spend the night on Aang Memorial Island."

"Look, I don't think Aang would mind if his _daughter_ took an incredibly _brief_ _nap_ on his dumb island," Kya almost growled at the officer from behind the bars, trying to look as threatening as she could while also not being charged with threatening an officer. It was a fine line.

"Mhm, yeah. As soon as you give us some real information about who you are, _maybe_ then Chief Beifong will grace you with her presence," the officer said, laughing as he walked away from her.

Kya groaned aloud and slumped down onto the bed in her cell. Today was not going as well as she had originally hoped. The plan had been to spend one quick night in the park before going to Air Temple Island, but the rain had quickly shut down that idea. Not having money to pay for an actual hotel and still not wanting to spend more time than absolutely necessary at the Air Temple, the logical conclusion was that she should take cover at Aang Memorial Island. And some moron had called the police on her. Hopefully, Tenzin wouldn't think she just decided not to visit after all and he would eventually come looking for her.

After what felt like hours (although, admittedly, she may have fallen asleep), she heard familiar laughter coming from the hallway outside her cell. It was dark, so she couldn't make out the face, but the laugh was unmistakable.

"You're damn lucky the arresting officer found your story so hilarious and decided to share it with the entire squad," Lin said, still smiling more than Kya had seen her smile in years.

"There was nothing funny about it, Lin."

"Well, if you assume that you're just some crazy homeless lady who thinks she's the avatar's daughter, then it does become a little funnier," Lin argued while she looked through her keys for the one that would unlock the cell door. Finding it, she let Kya out of her cell.

"Thanks."

"Care to explain why, exactly, you were camping out underneath the memorial? Couldn't you have stayed at the Air Temple?" Lin asked, shutting the door behind Kya after she walked out into the hallway.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers and Pema and the kids… but the acolytes aren't… they're not… I don't know, they just act like I don't exist, most of the time. It's not a big deal, I'd just rather not spend more time there than I really have to," Kya said, "Could you just show me how to get out of here?"

"Yeah, this way," she said, leading her down the hallway towards the stairs, "What are you doing in Republic City, anyway? I thought you were pretty much settled in the South Pole?

"Settled? You thought I was settled somewhere? And that that somewhere was the Southern Water Tribe?" Kya said, laughing at the absurdity of it, "Nah, I was just spending some quality time with Mom. I'm just here for a visit. I heard Korra was getting some sort of award or something, thought I might go to the ceremony. Or at least the party they will undoubtedly have for her"

"Oh, right. That's tomorrow, isn't it? President Raiko thought she deserved one after all that with Kuvira," Lin remarked as she walked up the stairs, Kya following behind her. They were quiet as Lin led Kya through the police station. There were a few officers working quietly at their desks, but it was mostly empty this late at night. Lin pushed open the front door and held it for Kya to leave.

"You're gonna be there, aren't you?" Kya asked, turning back towards the Police Chief after she walked outside. It was raining again tonight.

"Be where?"

"Korra's award ceremony. Or the party afterwards. Whichever."

Lin thought about it for a minute, frowning in concentration. She didn't think she had any terribly pressing matters that had to be attended to tomorrow night. Plus, the kid had done good and did actually deserve the recognition. Nodding and promising to be there, she watched as Kya's demeanor visibly brightened against the grey night.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow, then," Kya beamed.

"Just try to find somewhere at least semi-legal to spend the night from now on, okay?" Lin called after her as she bounced down the steps and into the rain.


	2. Chapter 2

Kya had arrived at the Temple about half an hour later. The rain had finally stopped and she had managed to catch a ferry to the island. An Acolyte had greeted her at the docks and had instructed her to wait there while he went to get Tenzin. As if she couldn't be allowed onto the island without her brother's expressed permission.

She dropped down onto the edge of the dock, her feet hanging off and almost skimming the water. She could see fish swimming below and she watched them for a bit, losing herself in thought.

"Kya!" She turned around to see Tenzin rushing towards her, concern etched on his face, "Where have you been? Mom arrived yesterday morning with her things and yours. She said you'd be right behind her!"

"Calm down, _dad_, I'm fine," Kya teased, breaking out of her reverie and reaching down to take off her shoes.

"You could have sent a message," Tenzin fumed.

"I figured you'd be fine," Kya replied, sinking back into her carefree demeanor that she generally preferred now that she was somewhere she felt vaguely comfortable. She pushed herself further towards the edge of the docks and skimmed her toes in the water, watching the fish flee as she disturbed their peace.

Tenzin just gaped, open mouthed at his sister for a moment before turning around and practically stomping back towards the temple. Sighing at he brother's behavior, Kya swung her feet up onto the docks and followed him.

Acolytes and airbenders were beginning to wander around the temple, doing whatever it was that acolytes and airbenders did this early in the morning. Most of them paying no attention to Kya, but cheerfully smiling and waving at Tenzin, who was too wrapped up in his own annoyance to notice them.

"So, same room as always and all that?" Kya said as she followed behind him towards the female living quarters. Tenzin nodded and Kya expressed that she was sure she could manage to find it herself.

"Try not to disappear again before breakfast," Tenzin said tersely as he turned to walk away.

"I will absolutely try my best," she replied with a smirk as she made her way towards her room to take a well deserved nap before she had to get up and face everyone at breakfast.

"So where did you get off to last night?" Katara asked her daughter as soon as she sat down beside the table. Everyone immediately stopped their conversations and turned expectantly towards Kya.

"Just around. Nowhere special," she replied, piling food onto her plate and avoiding eye contact. No one here really needed to know she'd spent most of the night in a jail cell.

"Yeah, I wouldn't call the Republic City police station 'special' either."

Looking up, Kya say Lin standing in the doorway. Groaning inwardly, she cursed Lin's impeccable timing and need to get others into trouble.

"What did you do this time, Kya?" her mother asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Kya was suddenly surrounded with small, bouncing children asking question after question

"Did you get arrested?'

"Are you a criminal, Aunty Kya?"

"Did you kill someone?!"

"How'd you escape?"

One by one, they managed to settle down when they saw that she was not going to answer them. Not that she had anything against answering them, personally, but the look that her brother was giving her from across the table told her that it was probably better that she didn't.

"Kids, maybe you should go get started on your chores," Pema said, beginning to push them out of the room. As soon as Rohan, Meelo, and Ikki were well out of hearing range, Tenzin began his tirade.

"You got arrested!? How is it that you are fifty-seven years old and still behave like more like a rebellious teenager than Jinora?!" He shouted, Jinora blushed at this comment and shot her aunt a apologetic look, "What did you do this time?! I swear, Kya, if you're back to stealing things, you're not welcome in this house!"

"For the hundredth time, Tenzin, you need to calm down. For an airbender, you sure are pretty angry," Kya said," I didn't steal anything, so chill."

Tenzin looked at Lin for confirmation.

"Well, that's true. She was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Nothing criminal, really," Lin assured him before she also gave the waterbender an apologetic look.

Tenzin calmed down a bit after the reassurances that his sister hadn't been involved in any real criminal activity in the twenty-four hours that she had been in Republic City. He was still glaring at her enough to drive her from the room, though. Grabbing an apple from the middle of the table, she made her way outside to get some peace.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sorry about that," Lin said, coming up from behind her. She leaned up against the waist-high wall that Kya was sitting on in the courtyard.

"What are you even doing here, Lin?" Kya asked, taking a bite of her apple.

"I'm supposed to be teaching Korra metalbending, but she left this morning before I got here. Apparently, she felt she needed the day off and didn't bother to let me know before I came all the way over here," the Police Chief huffed.

"Probably out with Asami," Kya reasoned, picking up her legs and shifting so that she was straddling the wall and facing Lin, "And there's no need to apologize, they would have found out eventually. Besides, it's not the worst thing I've ever done. Been arrested before, will probably be arrested again."

"That's the spirit," Lin said sarcastically, "Or you could just avoid doing illegal things and you could avoid being arrested altogether. That's what most people try to do."

"Not really my thing," Kya laughed, "Most people are fairly boring. I suppose you'll want me to get a _real job_ and _act responsibly_?"

"Couldn't hurt," Lin replied.

"But it could, though."

Lin was staring at Kya and trying to formulate just how to convince her that, yes, the laws applied to her, as well, when Jinora showed up.

"Korra's back, Chief Beifong," she informed them, "She's out back, waiting on you."

"Waiting on me? I've been waiting on her for half an hour," Lin grunted as she started to stomp off towards the waiting avatar.

"Oh come on, Lin," Kya cooed, jumping down from the wall and linking her arm with the metalbender's, "Don't pretend like you don't remember what it was like to be young and in love. Skipping class and spending all your time trying to find a few more minutes you could spend together."

"No, actually, it's not really something I'm too familiar with." Lin grumbled, trying to pull her arm out of the older woman's grasp as they walked. Kya just pulled her closer and held her arm tighter.

"Hmm. I suppose you were a good bit older than them when you started dating Tenzin… There wasn't anyone before him?" Kya asked, curious to know more about Lin's life during the period that she, herself, had been traveling the world.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no. And before you ask, there wasn't anyone after him, either," Lin spat at her, finally succeeding in pulling her arm away. Speeding up her walk, she tried to leave Kya behind.

Realizing that she had probably said the wrong thing, Kya practically ran to catch up with her. She started to grab her arm again, but decided against it, choosing instead to just walk beside her.

"Look, I didn't mean that in a mean way, or anything, Lin," Kya explained, "I'm sorry if I upset you. But you're right, it's not my business, I suppose."

"I've got things to do, Kya," Lin replied, "I'll see you later tonight."

And with that, Kya was left behind. She really hadn't meant to say anything to hurt Lin. She had finally thought they were getting to a point where they were almost friends, but Lin was difficult to be friends with. It was hard to know exactly what might set her off and cause her to put her defenses up.


	4. Chapter 4

Lin paced around one of the gardens on Air Temple Island, trying to get her anger in check before going to put up with the avatar and her annoying entitlement complex. Which was apparently a common trait among members of the Water Tribe.

Walking over to the agreed upon training area behind the temple where they'd set up some rather large blocks of various types of metals, Lin managed to get her anger under enough control that she didn't feel like knocking the entirety of the Air Temple into the ocean, which was an impressive accomplishment. She shouldn't have even been angry in the first place. Kya hadn't truly said anything offensive… but still. It was none of her business and she didn't need to pry.

As she was about to turn the corner of the building, she stopped when she heard giggling up ahead. Coming around the corner, she found Korra and Asami, who did not seem to realize she was there as they continued whisper and laugh on the bench. Clearing her throat, Lin made herself known and Korra fell off the bench backwards in surprise. Which just caused Asami to laugh even harder.

"Jeez, kid. Get yourself together," Lin said as Korra got up and brushed the dirt of the back of her pants.

"I'll leave you two to it, I suppose," Asami said, getting up to leave, "I'll see you later Korra. Nice to see you again, Chief Beifong."

Asami pecked her girlfriend on the cheek and walked back towards the main part of the Air Temple.

"Right. So. Metalbending, yeah?" Korra said, still a little flustered from being surprised and falling off the bench.

"Yeah, metalbending," Lin said, her sour mood returning quickly. At least she could hurl some giant metal boulders at the avatar. She couldn't quite justify doing the same with Kya.

Kya was back to sitting on the wall that Lin had found her on, watching Meelo try to teach some of the younger airbenders how to make air scooters. Her apple was lying half eaten and forgotten on the ground beside her.

"Hey, Kyyyyaaaa," looking over her shoulder back towards the temple, she saw Bumi walking over. He used airbending to jump up onto the wall she was sitting on before taking a seat next to her.

"Hey, missed you at breakfast this morning," she remarked when he sat down.

"Yeah, not that you were there long," he laughed, "Heard you got in some trouble with both the law and the family."

Kya groaned as she realized that the whole island probably knew about her arrest and subsequent fight with Tenzin. Just what she needed, another reason for the acolytes to think she was a good-for-nothing.

"Meelo's telling everyone you're a convicted murderer," Bumi said, trying to put on a serious face and failing as he continued to laugh, "So tell me, sis, who'd you kill?"

"My chances of ever looking like a vaguely respectable person," Kya said, turning to straddle the wall and lean up against a pillar, "Maybe someone should tell Meelo how the justice system works. They don't normally let convicted murderers go home."

"He claims you escaped. A daring feat, if I might say so myself. Republic City's got some quality police officers," he explained, "I'll help you hide if the law comes looking for you."

"Wow, thanks, Bumi."

"You're welcome. Although you seem to be doing a fairly good job of hiding without my help," he said, gesturing around to the fairly secluded area she had chosen. Besides the airbender kids, who were across the courtyard and fairly wrapped up in themselves, no one was really around, which was a pretty impressive thing considering the number of people who now lived on the island. Stroking his beard, he began to realize that something might be bothering her, "So, are you hiding out here? 'Cause I'll leave if you want to hide by yourself."

"No, you're fine, really," she said, "I just don't particularly like fighting with everyone. It's very draining."

"Everyone? You know, Mom's not really that upset… Tenzin'll be over it by dinner. No one else is really going to say anything about it," Bumi tried to reassure her.

"Lin's angry with me, too," she told him.

"For being arrested? I was under the impression that she thought you deserved it," Bumi said, confused.

"No, no. Something else. I said something stupid. Can't figure out exactly what it was that I said that was the specifically stupid thing that set her off, but it was something," Kya sighed, looking fairly defeated about the situation.

"OH-HO!" he exclaimed, jumping back up onto the wall so that he could lean over his sister, "Someone's upset their little girlfriend!"

He bounced around for a minute before jumping up and floating back down into a sitting position on the wall.

"Are you done with all that?" Kya aksed, annoyed, "She's not my girlfriend, nor is she particularly all that little."

"No, she's not that small, that's true," Bumi said thoughtfully, pulling on his beard.

"Why do I feel like you only heard the second part of that statement?"

"Because it was the true part and I'm only going to bother listening to you if what you say is actually true," he said, as if it should have been obvious. After seeing Kya's dumbstruck expression, he decided to clarify, "Well, I'm only going to listen to things that are based in fact. About this anyways. I'll concede, the Chief's not your girlfriend."

"No, she isn't," Kya insisted.

"But you want her to be," Bumi teased, smiling.

"Go away, Bumi. I've changed my mind about wanting to hide alone."


	5. Chapter 5

After spending a couple hours attempting to teach Korra some level of actual technique when all the girl wanted to do was learn how to use the police cables, Lin decided it was time to call it a day. Korra seemed grateful; she had wanted to stop when she found out that Lin was actually never going to let her use the police cables

Korra had very quickly cut and run as soon as Lin had said that they were done, not even offering to help clean up some of the mess she had left behind. There was a gaping hole in the ground from where she had gotten frustrated.

"Well, the acolytes might actually prefer it this way," Lin said to herself, not really feeling like fixing it.

"I agree, you should leave it like this. Then maybe Tenzin will be angry with you and Korra instead of me," Kya said, leaning up against the Air Temple. She'd decided it was best to pretend like she hadn't upset Lin earlier; there was really no need to bring it up again.

"He'll get over it," Lin said, trying to flatten the ground back out, "There. That's pretty much how it looked before."

"Do you remember when Suyin was first learning how to metalbend and she ripped a hole in your living room wall?" Kya asked, smiling at the memory.

"Yeah, she did a crappy job fixing it and then assumed Mom wouldn't notice," Lin smirked, "I wasn't there when Mom got home, but I know Su didn't want to be in the house with her for about a week after."

"She spent a couple of those nights at the Air Temple," Kya told her, "And Mom absolutely went off on Toph for being too hard on her."

"I don't think she was particularly hard on her, Su just didn't spend a lot of time at home, anyway. That just sort of drove her off the edge," Lin sighed, her sister had been going through a lot back then.

"Anyway, how'd the lesson go?" Kya asked. The two of them started walking back around the front of the island. Spring had just started and everything was in bloom. Kya reached off the path and plucked a white flower off a tree

"About as well as it could have gone. She doesn't particularly care about learning the intricacies of metalbending," Lin replied, watching as Kya ripped the petals off the flower and threw them back into the shrubbery.

"Did you have to _steel _yourself to practice with her? Did it _rock_? Did you have a _smashingly_ good time?" Kya asked, throwing the stem of the flower at Lin's face.

"Most of those weren't even metal puns," Lin grumbled, brushing at her face where she's been hit.

"Hey, let's see you try to make a decent metal related joke," Kya laughed, "I tried my best."

Kya walked with Lin the rest of the way to the dock, making sure to remind Lin about the ceremony tonight. After making her promise, once more, to be there, and Lin grumbling something about needing to go for security reasons, anyway, Lin got on the ferry to go home.

There were still several hours before there was any need to start getting ready for tonight, so Kya resigned herself to sitting on the docks again for a while, hopefully away from any prying brothers or annoying acolytes. Looking over at the city was interesting enough, anyway.

"Hey," someone from behind her said. She turned around, pleased to see that it was only Asami. She smiled at her in greeting as Asami bent down to sit next to her on the dock.

"Did the ferry just leave?"

"Yeah, you just missed it."

Asami groaned and fell backwards so that she was lying down with the crook of her arm hiding her face.

"I've got so much to do today. I told Korra I was going to miss it."

"Big plans for today?" Kya asked, happy to hear about someone else's problems.

"I mean, just the usual stuff. Company to run and all that. It's just that tonight's award ceremony is cutting the workday short. And I've got to actually get dressed for that," Asami said, trying to plan out a revised schedule for the day in her head, "You're going to that, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Kya said, copying Asami's position on the ground and watching the clouds.

The ferry returned, leaving Kya alone again. She decided she should get up and go back to the dining hall. It was probably getting close to lunchtime, she figured, and someone might come looking for her if she didn't show up to eat with them.


	6. Chapter 6

After an incredibly long and far too drawn out award ceremony, everyone made their way to Air Temple Island for what was turning out to be a much larger celebration than Tenzin and the acolytes had originally anticipated. It seemed that everyone who was actually invited brought at least one guest, maybe more. Lin had to call in about a dozen more of her officers to make sure that there was enough security at the party, especially with all the important individuals in attendance.

She was walking to check on the officers stationed near the meditation pavilion when someone grabbed her arm. She immediately went to punch them in the face, but thankfully saw that it was only Kya.

"What are you doing, Lin?" she asked, exasperated concern written all over her face.

"My job, I'm monitoring the security of the island. There are a lot of important-"

"Mhm, I'm sure. Calm down a bit, okay? Everything's fine and I doubt having you micromanage their actions is actually going to help your officers," Kya argued, interrupting her before she got started, "It's a party and you deserve a night off. I didn't see you at the ceremony, so I'm assuming you spent the entire time worrying about security there, too, didn't you?"

"I have a responsibility to the people of this city-"

"To not overwork yourself," Kya interrupted again.

"Are you actually going to let me finish a sentence?" Lin asked, mild irritation evident in her voice.

"Well, you just finished one. So, apparently yes," Kya laughed, following Lin as she continued walking towards the officers at the meditation pavilion, "Come on, leave them alone. They are totally capable of handling whatever comes up."

She grabbed back onto Lin's arm and pulled her in the opposite direction. She reluctantly allowed herself to be led in the opposite direction, towards the plaza that overlooked the bay. Plopping down on the steps, Kya pulled Lin down with her.

"Have you ever considered actually taking a vacation?" Kya asked, watching as Lin leaned forward so that she had a better view of a group of officers who were standing near the docks.

"Hmm?" Lin said, hardly paying Kya any attention, "No, I couldn't. There's too much to do here."

"When was the last time you actually left Republic City?" Kya asked, "I seem to remember you saying something about you said about wanting to visit Ba Sing Se again. Like ten years ago."

"Well, it just hasn't happened, yet," Lin argued, leaning back onto the steps, "I'll go when I retire."

"Oh, come on, Lin," Kya laughed, "If you actually retire before you die, it'll be a forced retirement."

"Why's it matter so much to you, anyway?" Lin huffed; hating that Kya was prying but hoping that she wouldn't drive her away with her inability to control her temper.

"I've got to go to Ba Sing Se in a few days. I was wondering what it would take to get you to accompany me," Kya said, smiling hopefully at her, "You know, I feel like I usually get into so much extra trouble in that damn city. Having Republic City's very own Police Chief around might keep me on the straight and narrow."

"I don't think having the entire Republic City police force following you around would stop you from doing something that you wanted to do, regardless of the legality of it," Lin said. She didn't have time to leave the city, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't, she thought. There was no need to go to Ba Sing Se with Kya, it would only lead to trouble.

Trouble that could be prevented by her being there, she told herself the next day as she prepped her entire force for her three day trip to the Earth Kingdom.


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't know why you aren't more excited about this."

"Because she's only going because I badgered her into it. She's going to be grouchy and irritable the entire time and I didn't actually want her to come if she didn't want to come," Kya said as she tried to fit everything she would need for three days into one bag.

"She wouldn't be going if she didn't want to go," Bumi argued, pushing her away so that he could attempt to shove her things into the bag.

Sighing, Kya flopped onto the bed causing her suitcase to almost fall off of it. Bumi moved the suitcase to the floor and sat down beside her.

"She's going because she feels pressured. I was relentless, honestly," Kya said, "I'd hate me if I were her."

"Well then, it's a darn good thing you aren't her. You're you. And you're persistent, that's for sure. But she knows that and if it's bothered her in the past, she wouldn't even be talking to you now. Because she's her," he said, trying to convince his sister that she hadn't made a mistake in asking Lin to go with her to Ba Sing Se.

"Besides, it doesn't mean what you think it means, Bumi."

"Have you asked her that?" Bumi said, skeptically side eyeing her.

"No. But I don't have to," Kya argued, pushing herself up off the bed so that she could finish packing.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, not only are you a waterbender, but you can read minds, too," Bumi retorted sarcastically.

"Shut up," his sister mumbled, turning her back on him to pull some more clothes out of her drawer, "As if you actually know what you're talking about. When was the last time you even spoke to a woman you weren't related to?"

"Yesterday. I talked to Lin."

"You did what now?" Kya snapped, flipping back around to face him.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know," he assured her.

"And what exactly is it that you think she already knows?"

"That you've been in love with her since you were twenty-four."

"BUMI!" Kya screamed in shock, throwing the small pile of clothes she had been holding at him.

"Relax, I'm kidding," he chuckled, picking up the shirt that landed on his lap and throwing it into a second bag, "I just asked her if she was excited for your trip. She said it was a hassle and that she couldn't believe you'd talked her into this. Which I think is Lin speak for 'Why, of course, Bumi. There is nothing more in the entire world I would rather spend my time doing than accompanying your fantastic sister on a fantastic trip to a fantastic city.' Or something like that."

"Great," Kya sighed again. She wasn't sure why she ever thought talking to her brother was a good idea.

Lin had agreed to meet Kya on the docks at seven. It was now seven thirty and Kya was nowhere to be found. Typical.

Grumbling about lazy waterbenders, Lin pulled her suitcase over to a bench, deciding that if Kya didn't show up in ten minutes she would go back home. Okay, fifteen minutes. Or twenty if the fifteen went by quickly.

Finally, she saw Kya rushing down the pavilion stairs.

"I'm so sorry, Lin," Kya profusely apologized, "I overslept and no one bothered to wake me up because they apparently just thought that I had left already. You're not angry with me, are you?"

Kya gave her best apologetic look and clasped her hand in front of her.

"I suppose it can be forgiven," Lin muttered, picking up Kya's duffel bag and throwing it over her shoulder. Looking around, she added, "How exactly are we traveling, anyway?"

"Um… about that," Kya said, motioning towards the air bison stables.

Great, Lin thought, this trip was only getting better and better. Kya was lucky she was… well, whatever she was.


	8. Chapter 8

Even though Lin had hoped that riding a flying bison had somehow become a less terrible way to travel, it was still fairly smelly and uncomfortable. How people actually enjoyed this, she couldn't say. Kya, however, was having a blast.

"Look, there's some people down there farming," she said, leaning over the edge of the bison and pointing downward, causing the bison to tilt towards the direction she was leaning.

Opting to not look over the edge of the flying creature, she leaned back and threw her arm over her eyes, thinking that if she didn't think about the fact that she was about a thousand feet in the air that maybe it wouldn't feel so bad.

"Are you going to be okay?" Kya asked, concerned enough to stop her sight seeing and crawl over to where Lin was laying.

"Yep, just peachy," Lin grunted in reply, sitting up quickly and immediately regretting that decision. She felt incredibly disoriented.

"We'll be there soon, just like another half hour, promise," Kya said, putting her hand on Lin's shoulder.

"So what exactly is on the agenda once we get there?" Lin asked, still unsure of exactly what business Kya could have in Ba Sing Se.

"Well, I suppose that's for me to know and you to find out, Chief," Kya laughed. Just one glance at her traveling companion's face told her that that answer was not going to fly today, "I've got to talk to a lady about a plant."

"Please tell me this is a legal plant," Lin groaned, not really wanting to have to arrest Kya for bringing some random drug into the city.

"It's a herbal thing for my mother, Lin. And yes, it's perfectly legal. But kind of rare. Her birthday is next week and I wanted to get her something she'd think was interesting,"Kya said, "I can't believe you thought I'd bring you along for one of my illegal drug runs."

"I'm just going to assume you're kidding," Lin said, although she honestly couldn't be sure.

"You're such a downer, Lin. Come on, you're on vacation," Kya pleaded, shifting so that she was sitting more beside Lin than in front of her.

Lin huffed at her and seemed to deepen her frown. She'd feel better about this entire thing once they were safely on the ground.

Kya had actually been fairly accurate in her estimation of how much further it was to the city. After about twenty minutes, they could see the outline of the Outer Wall on the horizon.

"So the plant lady is in the middle ring," Kya said, "I can manage by myself if you want to do something else for a while."

"No, I think I'll just stay with you. It's a big city and it might be hard to find each other again if we split up."

The bison landed in a grassy area and they hoped off, Lin with a bit more difficulty than Kya. Kya told the bison to stay there and they were off into the city.

Lin was just pleased that they weren't in the lower ring. She was also mildly surprised considering who she was traveling with. Kya tended to spend her time in some fairly undesirable places with some fairly undesirable people.

"Okay, I think it's this way," Kya said, motioning off to a street on their right.

"You think? You mean you don't actually have any idea of where we're going?" Lin said, wondering why she had started to get her hopes up about their prospects on this trip. Of course Kya wouldn't really know were they were going.

"I mean, I know we're in the right neighborhood. I just haven't exactly been here before," Kya explained, starting to lead them off in the direction she had been pointing.

"We could ask someone, you know. They do live here," Lin grumbled, conceding to follow behind the woman who had no more of an idea where she was going than Lin did.

"We're not in a hurry, Lin. We can find it. Besides, we might find something way better if we do happen to get a little lost," Kya said, smiling at the thought of getting lost in Ba Sing Se with a pissed off Lin Beifong.


	9. Chapter 9

They eventually managed to find their destination but Kya seemed reluctant to go in. The building was as nice as any of the ones in the middle ring, although all the windows were practically dripping flowers and vines. There were so many trees in front of it that it looked like it had its own small ecosystem right there in the middle of the city.

"Do you actually want to go in or are you planning on staking out the place beforehand?" Lin asked, nudging Kya towards the path to the door.

"Oh yeah, right," Kya replied, tripping a bit in her haste to pretend she hadn't been overwhelmed by the vast array of plant life outside the shop. Lin snorted in amusement at her friend's eagerness.

"Oh no, you should wait outside," Kya said, turning around to face Lin so quickly that Lin ran into her.

"What? Why?" Lin argued, she hadn't come all this way to not see the thing through.

"Your aura is a bit… harsh, Lin," Kya said thoughtfully, genuinely trying not to upset Lin, "I don't think it's very good for the plants."

"I'll have you know that I am great with plants. Much better than with animals or people, honestly," Lin protested.

"Not that that really means much, considering," Kya pointed out.

"Considering what, exactly?"

"The fact that you absolutely suck with most people and animals. It really sets the bar pretty low for how good you could be with plants. Especially since plants can't complain," Kya said, turning Lin around and pushing her, with two hands on her shoulders, towards the bench right beneath one of the many trees in the garden, "Just wait here for a minute and I'll be right back. Promise. No more than five minutes."

Huffing, Lin sat down on the bench and resolved that she would wait exactly five minutes and if Kya wasn't back, she would go in and drag her out.

Walking back towards the shop, Kya threw a few warning glances over her shoulder at Lin. The door to the shop chimed when she pushed it open.

The inside was no neater than the outside, with thousands of plants blossoming from every surface. The ceiling was made of glass, but almost no sunlight hit the floor due to the insane amount of foliage in the room. It was like a sauna and Kya could already feel sweat beading on her forehead. Staring around in wonder, Kya wondered where to begin.

"Kya?" she heard a woman say from somewhere to her left, "Is that you? Jin told me you were coming."

A small, elderly woman poked her head out from behind a fern. She was about four feet tall with white hair that flowed softly down her back, almost to her knees. Dressed in the typical greens of the city, she blended in marvelously with her indoor garden.

"I'm late, aren't I?" Kya said, rubbing her sweating hands on her pants. She leaned across a table full of succulents and clasped both of the woman's hands in hers.

"Oh no, dear, don't worry. I've still got it," she said, smiling, "Wait here for just a second, wouldn't want you getting lost in here."

Kya plopped down on a stool beside what looked like it used to be the front counter before the store became a jungle. She could hear the woman shuffling around in the back. Then she heard voices, just whispers. Too quiet for her to make out what was being said, but they seemed hurried and frantic.

Sliding off the stool, she quietly pushed through the foliage to make sure everything was okay. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the second voice. It was a man's voice and he sounded angry.

"You've got her here then?"

"Yes, yes. She's in the front. But you have to let me make my sale before you take her, I'm going to make a small fortune off this and I am not letting you mess that up for me," the woman argued with the man.

Backing up slowly, Kya began to realize that somewhere along the line, she had made a mistake and she was possibly about to pay for it. Whatever "it" was. She decided that her best option now was to make a silent, hasty retreat from the shop and find a different gift for her mother.

However, that plan went out the window when she tripped over a metal bucket and knocked over an entire shelf of orchids. In hindsight, walking backwards in a crowded flower shop was not the best idea she'd ever had.


	10. Chapter 10

Two men wearing Dai Li uniforms rushed out into the front of the shop just in time to see the door swinging shut behind Kya. They plowed through the shop, knocking over even more pots and shelves, trying to catch her before she could get too far away.

"Hey! Someone stop her, she's getting away!" the taller of the two men yelled at no one in particular.

Lin, having heard the ruckus and preparing to go inside to check on Kya, was already wary and on her feet when she came bolting out the door. Kya hardly spared a glance at Lin before grabbing her hand and pulling her along behind her. The streets in the middle ring were crowded and they had to weave between people to get anywhere very quickly.

"What the-"

"Run! Just come on, we've got to go," Kya said, interrupting the questions before Lin could even properly form them in her mind. Looking behind her, she could see the two agents leaving the shop in a rush, searching the crowded streets, presumably for Kya.

"Over there!" the shorter one yelled, pointing in their direction.

"Shit," Lin said, turning back around and picking up the pace to keep up with Kya, who hadn't even bothered to tell Lin why they were even running, "Friends of yours?"

"I mean, not really, "Kya said, pulling her into a maze of alleyways," Usually my friends don't chase me through the streets."

"No? Well, do you want to tell me who does, then?" Lin countered angrily as she was pulled down another, even smaller alley and behind a dumpster. She was pulled down to a sitting position beside Kya.

"Um, well generally the chasing is done by enemies and angry ex-lovers," Kya smirked, "It appears that this time, we're dealing with the former."

"I don't know which part of this you think is funny-"

Kya's eyes widened and she threw her hand over Lin's mouth, pulling her closer and shushing her. She could hear footsteps coming towards them.

A child and her mother walked past their tiny alleyway and Kya breathed a sigh of relief, leaning away from Lin and removing her hand.

"If you ever do that again, I will not hesitate to rip your hand off, understand?" Lin said, furious that she had been put into this situation. Running from the Dai Li was not part of the plan for this trip as far as she had known.

"Hey, hey, calm down. I think we lost them," Kya said, pulling herself up and looking over the top of the dumpster.

"Calm down?" Lin exclaimed, " Calm down, Kya? We were just being chased by the fucking Dai Li for some yet to be explained reason and you want me to be calm about it? You do realize that they practically fucking run this city and there is literally no actual 'losing them' that could feasibly happen, right?"

"Okay, all the yelling is really going to attract more attention than we really want right now," Kya sighed, " So yes, I am asking that you try your absolute best to remain calm, which I do realize is a real struggle for you."

Kya could practically see the conflict waging behind Lin's eyes. She was fairly sure that she was about to be punched in the face with a rock.

"You are going to tell me what the fuck is going on. Right now. Or I'm going to walk away and possibly see you back in Republic City if you don't end up being secretly arrested first," Lin huffed, grabbing onto both of Kya's shoulders to try to keep herself focused on not punching her in the face.

"To be completely honest with you, Lin… I'm really not sure," Kya said, slouching back down beside the dumpster, "I haven't been to Ba Sing Se in so long, I don't really remember what I did the last time I was here. I don't know why they'd still be trying to find me."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her hands, trying to follow her own advice and remain calm. She really didn't know why the Dai Li would be looking for her, but honestly she could go her whole life without finding out and she would never regret it. Right now, their main goal really had to be getting out of the city.


	11. Chapter 11

"What the hell do you mean you don't remember what you did the last time you were here?" Lin snapped, hitting the wall and causing a tremor to go through the whole building.

"I'm fairly certain drugs were involved. In the 'not remembering' part. Not in the 'why the Dai Li are chasing us' part." Kya admitted, vaguely remembering a party she'd been at with some friends, "Anyway, it isn't important. Let's just get back to the bison and get out of here. We'll laugh about this later, I promise."

Lin was fairly certain she would never find the humor in this situation, but she followed Kya out of the alleyway, nonetheless. They didn't have to walk far back to the bison, they'd already run most of the way. However, when they got there, they found a new problem.

Three Dai Li agents were standing around the bison, clearly waiting for them.

"Alright, well that's a no-go," Kya sighed, ducking behind a tree and dragging Lin with her, "Plan B."

"Do you even have a Plan B, Kya? Because, right now, there doesn't seem to be a solid second option."

"Of course I have a Plan B. And a Plan C in case that one doesn't work out," Kya argued, dropping her bag onto the ground and rummaging through it. She pulled out a piece of paper and spread it out on the ground in front of her, kicking her bag out of the way.

"A map? You had a fucking map and we spent half an hour wandering around the city looking for that stupid plant store?" Lin cursed, turning in circles on the spot, wondering how she had been drawn into this situation.

"A nursery," Kya said, studying the map and occasionally glancing around them, trying to figure out where they were.

"I don't really care what it's called, let me see that," Lin said, squatting down beside her and tugging on the end of the map closest to her.

"Nope," Kya said, pulling it away from Lin and rolling it back up, "You don't even know where we're going. I've got this figured out. You're just going to have to trust me for once."

"Trusting you is what got us into this mess," Lin grumbled, folding her arms. Kya scooped up her bag and began walking in the direction they had just come from, "Where the hell are you going?"

"We've got to go see a friend of mine, he'll help us get out of the city. And he might know why we're being chased."

"Why _you're _being chased. I am just an unfortunate bystander in this situation. What about the bison?" Lin asked, looking over her shoulder at him. He seemed alright, for now, perfectly content to stay in his little circle of grass being guarded by three Dai Li agents.

"Aw, Lin. Don't tell me you're worried about the bison," Kya laughed, "I'll send some of the air bender kids to get him later. He's not going anywhere."

Lin reluctantly followed Kya deeper into the middle ring, not seeing how some friend of hers would be able to help. It was getting darker, though, and with their luck, they'd probably end up getting lost again. Especially since Kya was their navigator.


	12. Chapter 12

"Do you want to tell me where we're going now?" Lin huffed, irritated after spending hours wandering down side alleys to avoid Dai Li agents. It was almost dark and there was no way they were going to be able to avoid them forever.

"We're almost there, Lin. Don't worry," Kya said, peeking around the corner of the building to make sure the coast was clear. She pointed at an apartment building across the street, "There. I've got some friends who used to live over there. Hopefully they still do."

"You're not even sure if they still live here?" Lin yelled, causing a fruit vendor to glare angrily at them.

"Well, they probably do," Kya answered, running across the street and up the stairs to the top floor of the apartment building. Lin reluctantly followed her.

The building was fairly decrepit for the middle ring. Lin assumed whoever lived here was probably not family friendly company. In front of her, Kya was knocking on the door to the last apartment on the floor.

"I don't know about this, Kya. It's not the best neighborhood," Lin said hesitantly, shifting between her feet and casting nervous glances at the windows of the building. She could swear she saw someone moving the curtains.

"No, no. It's fine. They're good people," Kya said, cupping her hands against the glass to peer through the window. She stumbled backwards as the door opened.

"Kya? Is that really you?"

"Hansuke! It's been so long!" Kya exclaimed, drawing the large man into a hug. He seemed surprised at the contact, but pulled her along into the apartment anyway, "Wait! I want to introduce you to someone."

"Who's this then?" Hansuke asked, folding his arms across his chest. He was intimidatingly muscular, an impression that was reinforced by the fact that he was not wearing a shirt.

"This is my friend Lin. We're kind of in a bit of a tough spot so if we could come in?" Kya said, pushing Hansuke into the apartment and pulling Lin along with them. She pushed the door shut behind her. A lone lamp dimly lit the single room apartment. There was a couch pushed up against one wall and a bed mat on the floor underneath the window. A cat angrily glared at them from the mat. Hansuke gestured for them so sit on the couch.

"A tough spot, eh? What have you done now?"

"Nothing! I don't think… Well, to tell you the truth, I don't really remember," Kya sighed, plopping down on the couch. Lin hesitantly sat down beside her, "There's some Dai Li agents following us-"

"You," Lin interrupted.

"Fine. Me. But she's with me, so they're following us. I'm assuming it's because of something I did the last time I was here, so why don't you tell me about it," she said, gesturing for Hansuke to talk.

"You don't remember?" he laughed, "She doesn't remember."

He nudged Lin's shoulder and squeezed onto the couch beside her. Uncomfortable, Lin shifted on the couch closer to Kya.

"Hansuke. Please."

"You and Jin went exploring in the old prison under Lake Laogai. From what I've gathered, some guards confronted you and told you to get out. But you were… uh… a fair way away from sober… I don't know, Kya… the place ended up flooded. I don't think anyone was hurt. But the Queen probably wasn't too happy with you for flooding her secret underwater compound," Kya at least had the decency to look a little ashamed of this revelation.

"Oh. Well, shit," Kya said.

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Lin yelled, jumping up off the couch to glare down at the woman who had gotten her into this mess, "This isn't just some misunderstanding, Kya. You destroyed an historical site!"

"Lighten up, Lin. They weren't using it for anything and if they ever did end up using it, it probably would have been for something malicious anyway!" Kya yelled back, standing up and invading Lin's space. Lin threw her hands up and growled at her, turning around and walking towards the other side of the small room.

"Look, just find a way to get us out of this fucking nightmare and then we can go about our separate lives. I'll be outside," Lin snarled, stalking out and slamming the door behind her.


	13. Chapter 13

"Ugh! Typical Beifong behavior," Kya huffed, "Someone needs to teach that woman how to not freak out over everything."

"Wait a second, Beifong? This is that Lin? The one you used to talk about all the time and-"

"Shut up. I'm going to check on her," Kya said, deciding she'd rather deal with a pissed off Lin than answer any of Hansuke's questions about her. She pushed herself up off the couch and went to join Lin outside.

Lin was leaning up against the railing overlooking the street. She didn't pay Kya any attention when she came outside.

"Look, I'm sorry all this happened, Lin. Really. I'll make it up to you, I swear," Kya said, leaning over the railing to look at Lin's face.

"Did your friend at least tell you how to get out of here?" Lin sighed, figuring it was in her best interest to get out of the city before her name could get tangled up in Kya's mess.

"Not… yet," Kya admitted, biting her lip, "Actually, I really don't think we should go back in there…"

"I thought you said he was our best bet?"

"Yeah, I'll go talk to him, I guess… You just wait out here-"

"Absolutely not," Lin objected, "We are not going to have a repeat of the nursery incident. I'm not waiting anywhere."

"Fine," Kya groaned, not looking forward to Hansuke's inevitable comments and especially not looking forward to explaining them to Lin. She gestured for Lin to go back inside, hoping this would all be over quickly.

"Well, well. I didn't expect you two to come back anytime soon," Hansuke laughed as they came in the door.

"And I didn't expect to be here at all, but life's a bitch like that," Kya grumbled, flopping down on the floor across from the couch where Hansuke was still sitting. Lin threw her a bemused look and leaned up against the wall beside the door, "Just cut the crap, Hansuke. I need the best way out of Ba Sing Se right now and I know you know what it is."

"Of course, but I don't give that information away for free. Even to an old friend," Hansuke smirked, holding up his hand and rubbing his thumb against his first two fingers. Kya pulled a coin purse out of her pocket and dumped the contents out onto her lap, looking at the man across from her expectantly.

"Is that enough?" she asked, pushing it onto the floor. Hansuke leaned over and stared thoughtfully at the pile of coins, rubbing his chin.

"You're about twenty short of my normal fee, kid. I guess I can give you a break this time but don't go expecting this sort of thing from now on."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Kya deadpanned.

"Alright, then. I know a guy, works for the government. He takes a truck full of expensive meats into the upper ring every day from outside the wall. The guards are so used to him going in and out that they don't even check his cargo anymore. I'll tell him to meet you in the square across the way tomorrow morning at seven. He'll take you out of the city and you're on your way. Sound good?" Hansuke finished, sinking back into the couch and pocketing the money.

"You trust this man?" Kya asked, hesitant about trusting someone who worked for the government of Ba Sing Se.

"With my life," he replied.

"And what are we supposed to do until seven tomorrow?" Lin asked, finally joining the conversation. Kya had almost forgotten she was there.

"There's a motel about a block over. You could try that," he suggested.

"You took all the money I had, Hansuke," Kya reminded him, "How are we supposed to afford that?"

"You didn't bring any money?" he said to Lin.

"Not much. I hadn't exactly planned on spending the night here," Lin snapped, "Come on, Kya. Let's go. Tell your friend he'd better be there in the morning."

Lin glared at Hansuke as she turned to leave. Kya muttered a quick apology to Hansuke for her friend's behavior and followed Lin back out onto the street. All they could do now was hope Hansuke's friend was as trustworthy as he said and try to find someplace to spend the rest of the night.


End file.
